DragonMon - Part Three: Herba At Last!
“We made it to Herba!” exclaimed Pickle. “Let’s go challenge the Gem Leader! “That kid is just too full of energy,” remarked Alpha to Omega. “You can say that again,” replied Omega, with a smirk. “That kid is ju---” started Alpha. “It’s an expression,” said Omega, clearly not amused. “C’mon guys!” shouted Pickle towards the twins’ direction. The three walked over to the gem leaders’ battle location, only to find she was not currently in! “Oh come on!” mumbled Pickle disappointed. “Well at least this gives us some time to rest and get some food,” remarked Omega, quite joyfully to Pickle's denial of a battle. They headed to Ye Olde Buffet and ate a nice cooked meal, and relaxed watching television and chatting. A young woman appeared on the screen. She had just won her third contest of the year, and only needed two more to compete in the DragonVale Colosseum. There were ten opportunities a year to win a contest ribbon and six had already occurred. The woman on the screen won with her Swamp Dragon and had other plant hybrids next to her. “That must be Ryll Shados!” exclaimed Pickle. The reporter stated she would be returning to Herba that night. Pickle was really excited, but his Dragons were beat. He didn’t know what to do to revive them. “Pickle, do you want to head down to the DragonCenter and DragonMart before your battle tonight?” asked Alpha. “The who and what now?" asked Pickle in wonder. “The buildings where you heal your dragons and stock up on supplies. The center is the orange building in most cities, and the mart is blue,” simplified Omega. “Ah, yes, let’s head there right away,” said Pickle hurrying away. By the time the twins entered the DragonCenter, Pickle had already healed his six Dragons and had even begun experimenting with the HC. “That’s the HC, short for Hibernation Cave,” remarked Alpha. “You can place your DragonBall in it and it will send them to your park; you can retrieve Dragons from your park too,” explained Omega, getting used to having to do so. “Wait, I have a park?” asked Pickle. “Everyone does!” exclaimed Alpha. “Of the people who received Dragons the day you did, what was the order?” inquired Omega. “The three were me and my triplet brothers, Halo and Hunt. Halo picked Fire first, Hunt picked Earth second, and I received Plant last,” answered Pickle. “Hmm, so your father manages Halo’s park, your mother manages Hunt’s park, and the professor most likely manages your park,” reasoned Omega. “Cool. So I can have as many dragons as I want? But can only carry 6 at a time?” “Correct,” replied the twins together. Pickle explored the Upstairs Dragon trading area, but it was closed at the moment. Downstairs was being built, but he wasn’t sure what for. Pickle then decided to head to the DragonMart. He had a little amount of coins so he bought ten DragonBalls, and got one free; according to the sign, that was the deal all over DragonVale. He also decided to get one GrassBall, which would help him catch Plant Dragons. Although he had few coins he still looked around and saw many cool things like Revives and Potions and Repels. It was night time when he finally left the DragonMart, and Pickle was ready for his battle. Pickle decided to use his strongest dragons for battle. He selected his Plant, Tree, Moss, and Poison Dragons, as well as his new Clover Dragon. He wanted his Clover to be his secret weapon, so he decided to keep it for last. His Flower Dragon stayed with Alpha and Omega on the sidelines. “The battle between the challenger, Pickle of Domum, and the Gem Leader, Ryll Shados of Herba, will now begin!” shouted the referee. “Go Swamp Dragon!” shouted Ryll. “Go Herba!” shouted Pickle immediately afterward, thinking he must be the only person in DragonVale who named his dragons… “Use Razor Leaf,” commanded Pickle. “Use Bubble Beam,” countered Ryll, and she was dazzled by the water-type move. Both dragons suffered little energy from the attacks. “Use Absorb,” and to everyone’s surprise Ryll’s Swamp Dragon fainted. Pickle kept his Plant dragon out as Ryll put her Willow Dragon into play. “Use Growth,” said Pickle to Herba. “Use Aerial Ace,” said Ryll to her Willow. “Dodge it,” said Pickle quickly, but apparently not quickly enough. “Yes!” Ryll cried triumphantly as Herba fainted. Pickle sent his Moss Dragon into play. “Use Defense Curl,” ordered Pickle, and Musco’s defense rose due to his Special Move. “Now use Tackle,” he commanded, and Musco attacked the Willow dragon. “Eh, use Fly,” and the Willow rose up high into the air, only to fly straight down and strike the Moss. Slowly Musco rose, but collapsed right after. The air type attack on the earth type dragon was super effective! “Hmm, go Lignum!” shouted Pickle as his mighty Tree Dragon emerged. “Use Tackle, but in the air!” “Use Solar Beam,” said Ryll, and the Willow absorbed the tackle attack and began to store energy. “This time use tackle followed by a quick bite,” screamed Pickle, but just as the attack was going to hit, the Willow Dragon released its energy. Ryll was awestruck by the beauty of the move, and happy that the opponent fainted. Running out of options, Pickle sent in his rare Clover Dragon, Trifolium. “Use Absorb,” and again this magical move caused the opponent to lose. Ryll sent out her Lichen Dragon. Pickle substituted his strong Clover, and sent in Venumum. “Use Venom,” shouted Pickle. “Use Swiss Cheese,” countered Ryll, and the smell of that special move nearly caused the referee to faint. “Err….um, use…Venum,” said Pickle, slightly woozy, but still seeing that the move was able to affect both the Trainer and Dragon. The attack was quite effective; the fire-type attack on the cold-plant hybrid dragon, plus the powerful bite, caused the Lichen to faint. Pickle let his Poison stay in play against Ryll’s poison dragon. This was one of Ryll’s two most powerful dragons, and would not be affected by the Venom special move, as it could use the same. “Use Razor Leaf,” said Pickle out of his daze. "Use Razor Leaf also," said Ryll, not willing to back down...until she switched her Moss Dragon in. "Use Defense Curl," said Ryll, making sure she was prepared for the coming attack. "Flamethrower," commanded Pickle, "after using another Razor Leaf." Confuzzled at Pickle's approach, Ryll told her Moss to use Tackle. The Moss not only used Tackle but Bite as well in the same spot! Poor Venumum was blinded by pain and fainted. Pickle ran over to help it; the Dragon was ok, but it needed to recuperate on the sidelines before a DragonCenter visit. Pickle sent his last chance for the Forest Badge into play. "Use Luck," said Pickle, hoping the special move would cause more effective attacks. "Now use Body Slam!" The move knocked the wind out of the Moss and it fainted right after the blow. The only thing Ryll could think before the attack was wondering why she hadn't thought of the move. As Ryll put her Poison back in play, it became winner-take-all. Pickle told his Clover to use Luck and then Body Slam... but the Poison dodged and used Venum. Slowly Trifolium rose and attacked with Bite; now it was the Poison's turn to slowly stand. Then the Clover's Body Slam made contact and flew the opponent back; there was too much dust to see the result. Out of the obscured view emerged a weakened dragon with a look of more intensity anyone there had seen before. The Poison, as weak as it was, was determined as can be. It began to use flamethrower while going in for a tackle, and finished with a bite. The Clover was not fazed but rather psyched and ready to have an epic battle. After using Luck he attacked with a quick tackle. The foe countered with Razor Leaf, so Trifolium did Razor Leaf too. Then the opponent used Venom. It brought Pickle's dragon down hard, but it not only got up, it leveled up-- to level 9! This was definitely his most powerful dragon. Trifolium attacked with a new sense of power, but its strength was cut off by a flamethrower to the face. During the moment of awe of the level up, Ryll had used the time to get ready for her next move. One that decided the battle's outcome. "Come on Trifolium, get up. Please, please get up," pleaded Pickle to his dragon. But it didn't get up. Pickle's Dragonball activated, drawing Trifolium into its safe inclosure. "The challenger is unable to battle. The win goes to Ryll Shados, the Gem Leader," announced the Referee officially. "Thank you, Trifolium, you did amazing," Pickle whispered to his DragonBall, nearly tearing. He went to get Venumum and noticed Alpha with 8 green balls which were GrassBalls, only found in Herba. He received 4 as the twins split the other half, and it did cheer him up a bit. As Pickle began to leave the Gym disappointed, he was stopped by a grinning Gem Leader holding a Badge along with the other victory prizes. "Wha-?" managed Pickle very confuzzled. "Congratulations, here is your award, the Forest Badge of Herba!" she said. "B-But I lost," mumbled Pickle. "I haven't had a battle like that in a while, thank you for making my final battle so fun and challenging." "Thank you--- wait. Final Battle!?!?" "Err, yea... I'm letting my sister, Bob, take over the Gym as I focus more on Colosseum training and events. I really enjoy it, maybe even more than battling." "Oh, well thank you, the Badge is even more special to me now, and good luck!" and then exclaimed, "We just got...the Forest Badge!!!" with his dragons rawring along in happiness. "Uhm, Pickle?" "Yes Ryll?" "Could I, um, uh.....accompany you on your journey? I have plenty of experience and---" While she made her case unnecessarily , Pickle looked over at Alpha and Omega for assurance, and then cut Ryll off: "We would be honored to have you come along." "Yay, now, where are you heading?" "The earth-type city of Terra," "Great! My next competition is at Ignis, the city right after!" "Then let's get a move on," said Pickle smiling. And with that, our heroes headed on to Terra, for a chance for Pickle to earn his second badge of his young trainer career. TO BE CONTINUED........ ----